what causes initiation problems?

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I'm pretty sure it's a symptom of burnout, which drains you of emotional energy (TM).

Whatever the terminology, it takes some kind of energy to take things on irrespective of how we feel about them. Plus I think we sometimes set the bar of failure so low you couldn't slip a piece of paper under it.

I have lost count of the number of times I have done exactly this!! !

I am terrible at submitting expense claims. I just somehow do not get round to it. I have lost out on an amount of money I am entitled to because of this...

It's not procrastination - there is no weighing up pros and cons. There is just a lack of starting as described.

It's not just expense claims, I have some books I've been planning to take to the local charity shop for at least 12months...but keep failing.

There are other examples...

@SpiritBlooms, I'll need to think if there is any commonality to the things I do not start in this way...

I wonder though, if for me at least it this is a processing problem, linked to the 'too many things at once' problem I often face.

Doing these sort of tasks adds to multiple things I have to do at one time, and I much prefer to do one thing at once. A task like submitting an expense claim, never seems to become the one most important thing to concentrate on, and I resent taking time out from thinking about / concentrating on things that are more important to do something that is less important at the time.

It is mildly stressful to expend brain power on things that are not urgent, important, essential, or of interest to me, hence I keep delaying doing these things.

I find that I am just overwhelmed and just don't know where to start. I have been trying to clean my room for three months know but just don't know where to start. I have the same problem with tests, projects and exams.

I kinda found a trick for that... it might work for you...? Try looking around for just one random item; anything, that you can see is not in its usual place (after all, some things belong in a particular place - guitar on a stand, CD on a shelf etc.) Take delight in how random the item was, and how easy it was to identify where its true home was. Leverage that into picking another random item - and repeat. I find once I get started the inertia works the other way round and I can't stop tidying! Note that this whole exercise will stand more of a chance of working if tidying is a displacement activity that keeps you from doing something more pressing.

This is something my mom actually apologized to me for after I was in my 40's. When I was younger, my room was always a mess. My mom would tell me to clean it and I would answer "I don't know how." She thought I was just avoiding the task. She said it was crazy. No matter what threat or punishment they made, my room remained a mess.

Once we realized I have ADD, she said it was the first thing that came to her mind. I was telling her exactly why my room wasn't clean, and she did nothing to help me. I needed her to structure it for me so I could do it.

To this day, I still can only clean the house if I have a specific "plan" to follow. Otherwise I just wander around aimlessly, busy all day, but at the end of the day, the house is still a mess.

And yes, things that require a phone conversation are even worse for me, but those things are often actively procrastinated. I have a degree of CAPD and understanding people on the phone is very hard for me. I have to concentrate really hard, have NO background noise, and repeatedly ask people what they said. Thus, I hate talking on the phone and avoid calling people whenever possible.

I don't know if there are any other commonalities. I should joural for awhile and see.

LOL! Ain't that the truth!

Smart But Scattered has a section on improving task initiation. It's written for parents who are helping their kids.

Hooray! It's on my reading list.

...anyone want to assign me a deadline for buying it?

Haha, this reminds me. I have an unfinished book called "The Procrastinators handbook" laying around somewhere.

I could be wrong, but, as I understand it:

laziness: would rather not do something

procrastination: would rather do something enjoyable

executive function issues: (neurologically-based) difficulty doing certain things

Like exercise, for instance.
I have time to go for a walk. My dog even would like to go for a walk. But I don't go for a walk.
The doctor was asking about exercise. And of course his conclusion was "you're not motivated". But it's not motivation. I know it's a good thing to do. It's not a hard thing to do either. And I want to do it. It simply does not happen because I just can't do it.

I'm glad you brought this up, because I suffer from this too to the point of it having bad consequences. I read the entire thread and noticed that you mentioned not filling in a form that you are perfectly capable of doing. I had the same with my tax return forms, which must have cost me hundreds of euros. Nobody believed me when I complained about this, because I'm a registered accountant! This happened shortly before and many years after I suffered a bad burnout, but to this day I still don't do things I know is the best thing to do, can do, want to do and still don't do.

My own feeling about this is that it is caused by being overwhelmed. I have way too much to deal with than I can realistically handle, have no support whatsoever, but I turn a blind eye to it to prevent braking down in total panic. I also wish I would know a way out of this, but at the moment, I don't.

[quote=

Here is one: I need to submit some paperwork at work to get reimbursed for some expenses. It requires that I gather the "proof" of my expenses, fill out a report, print the report out and sign it, give it to my boss for signature, and then submit it; I've done it before. And I get a reward for doing it: Money. But an entire week has gone by and I have not done it. I just can't seem to get it started. I know from the past, once I get started, I'll be fine. I just can't start. It's like there is some...IDK...invisible block in my brain?

Another example is calling the veteran's group to pick up a bunch of stuff I have to donate. It's already boxed and ready to go. All I have to do is place the phone call. The crap has been in my dining room for months.

I know what needs to be done. I have the ability to do it. There is no reason to put it off. But I just can't seem to....START. It is a totally frustrating thing to explain to someone who hasn't experienced it before, and I know from the outside, I 'must just look lazy. [/quote]

This is exactly what I experience all the time! That mental block that prevents me from getting started on things. I have no idea what to do about it and it's extremely frustrating. I get it with most everything from the time I wake up to the time I go to bed. I've been told it's the Aspergers.

Well, I still have this problem

...the reimbursement form never got turned in and the boxes are still in my dining room.

<sigh>

I would guess just by reading examples that executive disfunction is not doing a task because it feels overwhelming when you have to do it but lazy is when you can't be bothered. Do you think maybe you get hung up on the perceived volume of the task? To call the vets you have to look up the number, call, they will set a date that may or may not work for you then you have to remember to set the boxes out. Although rationally you know those are not big tasks but it just seems tedious and like a lot to do and there is no set date so you out it off indefinitely. Or on the flip side is it so simple you keep putting it off. I can handle any huge complex task with ease. But I have had to deal with my ex husband bugging me about a dental apt for my son for 3 months. It would take 5 minutes but I keep forgetting about it and when I do think of it I put it off until later and forget again

Just wanted to say that I have this problem, too.

It's gotten worse since I attended my Uncles funeral what...like, a week or two ago, maybe?